Traumatic events in pregnancy may affect baby after all

Generations ago, women would be told that if they saw or experienced a trauma while pregnant, their baby would end up with some problems. This became a so-called old wive’s tale but now, in a study published in the journal Psychosomatic Medicine, researchers are saying that it isn’t an old wive’s tale and that there is truth to the claim.

Researchers looked at 1 million women in Denmark who had babies during a 24-year period. The researchers found that the women who experienced a trauma, such as the death of a loved one either just before they became pregnant or during the pregnancy, had a higher chance of delivering a low-birth weight baby than women who didn’t experience such traumas.

While such traumas can’t be avoided, the study does point to the fact that women should strive to be as healthy as possible, including emotionally, while trying to conceive and during pregnancy.

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Tags: pregnancy blog, stress during pregnancy, trauma during pregnancy, low birth weight babies, stress affects pregnancy